Representatives of eight member-countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) - Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela - will meet on Tuesday, 8, and Wednesday, 9, during the Amazon Summit, in the capital of Pará.
The meetings and debates should result in the signing of the "Declaration of Belém", a 130-paragraph agreement involving the countries. The document should start a joint route towards the next Climate Conference (COP 28), of the United Nations (UN), to be held from November 30 to December 12 of this year, in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Among the main topics of the document will be the fight against deforestation, illegal mining and organized crime, as well as the concern about generating income in a sustainable manner in the region.
“We are going to take care of our planet. Those who don't believe that things are getting risky just watch what is going on in the world. It rains too much where it did not use to rain, it's too dry where it wasn’t”, said the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, during the weekly live of the program "Conversation with the President", when talking about the Amazon Summit. Lula stated that the event will gather more than five thousand “intellectuals, scientists, researchers and environmentalists, to elaborate something concrete to present to the world”.
Amazonians
The secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Gisela Padovan, recalls that ACTO has already held three other meetings in the last 45 years, but that now, there are new actors and other demands. "The Treaty provided for a balance between environmental preservation and socioeconomic development. Now, we have a third axis: social participation. And this is a fundamental portion. The government established a motto, which is ‘nothing about the Amazon without Amazonians’. Therefore, we seek to accommodate and include the most different actors and groups in the region, such a diverse space with countless demands of its own”, she says. She also recalls that the Amazon Summit is the recognition that an integrated action between the countries is an absolute necessity so that everyone can defend the interests of the biome and of those who inhabit it.
Padovan also remarks that, after a seminar in May, a draft suggestion was sent to the other countries, so that it could be analyzed and subject to modifications. Soon after, in the city of Leticia, Colombia, the Technical-Scientific Meeting of the Amazon took place, an event organized by the Colombian government in order to allow more debates on the issues. In that occasion, five civil society spokespersons were interviewed. There was a direct contact with the presidents, and this will be repeated in Belém. As several events have been organized to precede the Amazon Summit, such as the initiative of the "Amazonian Dialogues”. The intention is that five rapporteurs from five different thematic axes participate in these discussions and bring conclusions and suggestions to deliver to the presidents.
"We’ve carried out a very broad process, as it is impossible to talk about the Amazon without valuing traditional knowledge. The purpose is to strengthen ACTO. In fact, it is the only international organization with its headquarters in Brasília (DF). I recommend that everyone get to know it, as it is an achievement that makes us proud of being Brazilians. The origin of ACTO, conceived by Ambassador (Rubens) Ricupero, was to increase knowledge resources about Amazonian issues. This is because without deep knowledge, there is no way to improve the life of the population. The Amazonian countries do not have an excellent Human Development Index and, within these countries, the Amazon regions are even more vulnerable. So, we need to discuss this fact in all aspects, including financing, because the government's position is that external financing is welcome and necessary due to the magnitude of the challenges, always emphasizing that the management of resources must be the responsibility of the Amazonian countries", she says.
Padovan also highlighted the importance of two other ideas announced by President Lula: the creation of a police center for the countries of the Amazon, in Manaus (AM), and the Amazon Integrated Air Traffic System.
Meeting is to align speeches for COP 28
Six of the eight presidents of South American countries will be present in Belém: Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia and Guyana. The exceptions are Suriname and Ecuador. Due to scheduling problems, presidents Chan Santokhi and Guillermo Lasso, respectively, will send official representatives to the convention. In addition, other developing countries with tropical forests were invited to the Amazon Summit: Indonesia, the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The invitation was also extended to France, on behalf of French Guiana, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the country which is currently in the chair of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States presidency.
Germany and Norway, contributors to the Amazon Fund, a program aimed at to financing sustainable initiatives resumed by the federal government in 2023, also joined the guest list.
"President Lula wants to walk along with these countries to be well aligned for COP 28 in Dubai. The invitation to Indonesia, Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo is part of the alliance created in 2022, in a joint announcement, when the countries decided to cooperate with the issues of forests and climate change. This movement broadens and internationalizes such an important debate. The two Congos will participate with their presidents and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will send the prime minister. We are under intense negotiations, because not all countries have zero deforestation targets in the region. The main urgency is to prevent the Amazon from reaching a point of no return in terms of degradation", says Maria Angélica Ikeda, director of Environment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Protagonism
For the Secretary of Environment, Energy, and Climate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, André Lago, nothing proves the sovereignty of a group of countries more than demonstrating their ability to dialogue and act together in favor of their own territories. "We have science, we have institutions, we have expertise... It will be an opportunity to show the world that we are aware of the challenges and aware that it is time to discuss solutions. More and more, we need to lead on this protagonism, reaffirm that we have a strong civil society and a local population willing to lead these discussions. This integration is valuable, because if Brazil efficiently combats deforestation, these crimes may be moved to countries with less supervision power. That's why this coordination is important," he argues.
According to André Lago, events such as the Amazon Summit and COP 30, taking place in 2025, in Belém, provoke a similar effect to that of Rio 92. "It was a time when Brazil was highly criticized for the fires in the Amazon and decided to invite everyone to a conference here. An interesting and objective action that allowed the delegations to realize the proportions of the challenges in the country. COP 30 will be a similar exercise, for the world to finally see the Amazon. And go beyond the forests, because we need to debate about the cities. Since ten million Amazonians live in cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. The Amazon is not this egalitarian and unique entity. It is a center of several different realities that need to be understood", he points out. The president of COP 28, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, and the president of the New Development Bank, Dilma Rousseff, will also participate in the event.
Vice coordinator of the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon, Alcebias Constantino, says that the organization arranged the trip for over a thousand representatives of indigenous peoples to Belém, focusing on parallel events to the Amazon Summit.
"We are traditional peoples who need to reclaim our own territories. We defend life, and for us, life means our territories. Without them, we have nothing, neither health and education. We have a very intense connection with our land, something that physics and biology cannot explain. It is our spiritual, ancestral connection... When we are threatened, we seek refuge in nature, in that dimension that involves water, nature, and the forest. For us, our territory is holy," says Alcebias, who hopes to see discussions on sustainable and inclusive development throughout the Amazon Summit, as well as special attention to the issue of territorial demarcation.
"It's been a 523-year fight. More than planning to combat climate change, it is necessary to give opportunities to those ones who are making things happen, for them to have a voice. Who is directly suffering? Who goes through this on a daily basis? Who gets hands dirty? This is the reflection that needs to be done," highlights Alcebias, who lives in the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Land.
Rights
The treasurer of the Federation of Indigenous Peoples of Pará, Ronaldo Amanayé, says that eight ethnic-regional committees of the entity will be in the events arising from the Amazon Summit, with representatives of more than 60 peoples.
"It's a rehearsal for COP 30. We want to listen, have a voice and denounce deforestation, the invasion of indigenous lands and illegal mining. We have good expectations, as it is a step towards more public policies reaching our territories. I always say that we need to have demarcated, homologated and protected territories. And we must have an agreement so that, in practice, we can build action plans among the eight countries to fight the climate crisis. For us, indigenous people, guardians of nature, it is essential to have help of the government, whether with transport or equipment, carrying out environmental preservation with inspection in an integrated manner. We need to be integrated into the strategies to protect the planet", he comments.
Ideas
Biologist Karen Oliveira, who works as director for public policies and government relations at The Nature Conservancy, considers the Amazon Summit as a moment of broad debate that will generate several discussions lasting for months. According to her, the events should seek ideas for sustainable development that responsibly uses the forest.
"One of the challenges is to provide active and truly participative listening. The decision-making process for organizing the Amazon Summit occurred in a very short period, which affected the listening and participation process. But we have to recognize the effort of the initiative. Civil society will promote several dialogues and parallel events and we hope that this can be taken to the meetings of the high ministerial and presidential levels, so that it is incorporated in the final declaration of agreements signed by the presidents", she argues.
Urgency
For Thamiris Cardoso, representative of the Association of Quilombola Residents and Producers of Abacatal - Sítio Bom Jesus, the expectation is that the meeting among Amazonian leaders will recognize the demands of traditional peoples as urgent.
"It is an event that should bring visibility to traditional peoples. We hope to show the demands where the state is failing, because there are many problems to be solved. We want quality on roads, education and healthcare. We want dignity, and we want leaders from other countries to understand the reality of traditional peoples in Brazil. Our territory is 313 years old, but the road has never been paved. We never had quality pavement nor good infrastructure, although we are within the Belém Metropolitan Region. We feel abandoned. We are labeled as a quilombo that only wants trouble and media attention, but we only claim our rights to be fulfilled, and we will take our demands to the Amazon Summit. We don't want privileges; we want our rights to be recognized, since all our rights are guaranteed by law in the Federal Constitution. We want respect, because we are Brazilian citizens just like everyone else. After all, this is what every Amazonian wants: to live with dignity in the Amazon," she stated.
